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That fickle-hearted, bed-hopping stud Henry VIII just changed his Emmy episode again! But this time he swears â€” with all the sincerity he musters each time he takes a new wife â€” that he’ll remain devoted to this one: episode 209. In it, he dumps Anne Boleyn, whips up a witch hunt against her and gets all a-giddy over Jane Seymour. That’s sure to endear him to Emmy voters, right? It airs near the end of May â€” right at the tail end of Emmy eligibility period.

Showtime announced today that it is picking up a third season of “The Tudors,” which will begin production in Dublin in mid-June. Season 3, which will debut in 2009, will trace King Henry VIII’s marriages to Jane Seymour (Anita Briem, above) and Anne of Cleves. Star Jonathan Rhys Meyers (above) is set to return.

The lavish drama is midway through its second season, which centers on Henry’s ill-fated marriage to Anne Boleyn, played by Natalie Dormer.

The series has emerged as something of a calling card for the pay cable network. Robert Greenblatt, Showtime’s entertainment president, told The Times recently that he’d ultimately like to extend it for four seasons, covering all of Henry’s six wives. But it remains to be seen whether Rhys Meyers, who is only committed to three seasons, will sign for a fourth.

As episode six of THE TUDORS’ second season debuts this coming Sunday on SHOWTIME, the network is ramping up for a third season of palace intrigue and royal drama, premiering in 2009. Production is slated to begin on June 16th in Dublin, Ireland with series star Jonathan Rhys Meyers set to return.

THE TUDORS took SHOWTIME subscribers and the media by storm when it premiered in April 2006, generating record viewership and critical acclaim. Last year, both the series and Rhys Meyers earned Golden Globe® nominations. And, season one of THE TUDORS is currently one of CBS Home Entertainment’s top-selling titles.

“THE TUDORS is now a fixture for us at SHOWTIME and we’re on our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII,” says SHOWTIME President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt. “We are enormously proud of this show, the extraordinary cast, and the production team that recreates the grandeur of the Renaissance year in and year out. There is nothing like this anywhere on American television.”

Viewers and critics alike have been enthralled watching the storied exploits of the sexy, hard-bodied King Henry VIII (Rhys Meyers) as he weds Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) while working to declare his marriage invalid to Queen Katherine (Maria Doyle Kennedy). This prompts Pope Paul III (Peter O’Toole) to have him excommunicated — a fall-out that changed the course of history. Anne’s failure to deliver a male heir sets the wheels in motion for her beheading, and sends Henry straight into the arms of yet another prospect – Jane Seymour (Anita Briem), who dies from an infection after finally giving him his coveted male heir.

From Lawrence of Arabia to Caligula to Troy, Peter O’Toole has a knack for playing historical figures to the hilt. Now, the eight-time Oscar nominee is robing up as Pope Paul III on The Tudors(Sundays at 9 pm/ET, Showtime) and he’s ready to confess.

TV Guide: What made you decide to take this role?Peter O’Toole: It is beautifully written with some stunning scenes and some terrifying ones. Pope Paul III was the greatest thief in the history of the church. The guy skinned ’em!

TV Guide: You were raised Catholic….O’Toole: I was reared as a holy Roman acolyte for five years starting when I was 10 in 1943…. Unfortunately, there were some wonky priests who tried to touch you up…. It was abominable. I was lucky; I wasn’t touched by it. The hard kids put a needle in their jeans so that when the priest went to touch them they got a nasty shock.

TV Guide: You’ve been famously critical of the state of acting, as well.O’Toole: Acting today is s–t. London theater is a graveyard and it’s all because of this whole invention of The Director…. The power [of the actor] has been taken away. There are only three indispensable things: the audience, the actor and the author. The rest is dross.